The first day of spring arrives in two weeks, and I’ve already begun my seasonal tradition of paring down my stuff: I’ve tackled small organizing projects, which experts call “soft decluttering.” (I purged the murky area under my bathroom sink.) And I’ve given away sentimental clutter like a hand-me-down china set I haven’t used for a decade.
It’s gratifying to have a newly empty shelf, but resisting the urge to load it with new stuff can be tough. When you “turn off the shopping tap,” though, you save money, have fewer things to maintain, and are more eco-friendly, said Ashlee Piper, a sustainability consultant for businesses and individuals and the author of the forthcoming guidebook “No New Things.”
I asked Piper and other experts for their best tips to stop buying stuff you don’t need.
Make purchasing less convenient.
Shopping has become a “frictionless experience,” Piper said, allowing you to buy things at a touch of a button. So creating friction will help you buy less.
One way to do this is to delete your credit card information from your accounts on online shops so that it takes longer to make a purchase, Piper said.
“Having to get up, get your wallet, dislodge your credit card, and tap the number in is enough time to take a breath and think: ‘Do I really need this? What the heck am I going to do with this?’” she explained.
And block any emails, texts or push notifications from retailers, Piper said. As she writes, “You’re not Banana Republic’s emergency contact, so why are you allowing them to message you at all hours of the day?”
Don’t buy for your ‘future self.’
Courtney Carver, the author of “Gentle: Rest More, Stress Less, and Live the Life You Actually Want,” says that when she is tempted to buy something, she asks herself: Is this useful for my life today, right now? Will I actually use this in the next 30 days?
Don’t be tricked by your idealized version of that future self, Carver said. When she was younger, Carver would buy shoes inspired by Carrie Bradshaw in “Sex and the City,” even though she “couldn’t walk in them and had nowhere to wear them.”
I once bought a fondue set that sat unopened for years before I gave it away. I wish I were the sort of person who hosted fondue parties. As it turns out, I am not.
Try a ‘purchase pause.’
Over a month, notice every time you’re tempted to buy something nonessential, Piper suggested. Then, instead of giving into the urge, log the item in the Notes app on your phone or in a notebook.
At the end of the month, she said, look at the list and ask yourself if you still want these things.
Often, she said, the answer is no. I did this for a week, and my list contained eight items, among them a swan-shaped lemon squeezer and overpriced neck cream. By the time I returned to my list, I had forgotten about most of the items on it that seemed vital to my happiness at the time.
During Piper’s “purchase pauses,” she also recorded what kind of mood she was in when she wanted to buy things. Often, she found, she was stressed, sad or bored.
Also, try to recognize any patterns in your purchasing, such as buying things off a TikTok shop while scrolling late at night, Piper said.
Save space by borrowing.
For items you use only once in a while, Piper said, consider renting or borrowing them.
Shira Gill, an organizing expert and author of “LifeStyled,” said that she swaps dresses with a friend for events like weddings.
Or you can tap community groups for a seemingly endless array of things, Gill said. Check to see if Facebook Marketplace has a swap and share group in your area, or try the Buy Nothing Project to find a nearby group you can join.
Many public libraries offer a “library of things,” which can include items like board games and even power tools, Gill said. Mine offers bongos, disco lights and a karaoke machine, should I ever throw a party.
I just won’t be serving fondue.